“We need to rediscover the greatest story tellers and I have to say, as a Christian, that Jesus was an unbelievable story teller. He had the ability of simplifying and then exaggerating and that is what actually happens in Harry Potter. I don’t go in for magic, but mystery for me is that which remains when explanation, logic, reasoning have all been exhausted.”
The California Court of Appeals has denied a motion for rehearing by several congregations in a dispute with the Diocese of Los Angeles over church property. The next (and final) step is a discretionary appeal to the California Supreme Court.
Many so-called Christian and pro-family groups have been protesting the hate crimes bill for months, arguing that the federal bill is repetitive of existing state laws and threatens the free speech of those who speak on their biblical view of homosexuality
At issue is an aging and shrinking congregation, resulting in diminished annual giving. And with fewer members, the number of clergy and staffers needed to serve the congregation decreased. Half the congregation is age 60 and above and more than three-fourths are 50 and older.
The next martyr we meet with, according to St. Luke, in the History of the Apostles’ Acts, was James the son of Zebedee, the elder brother of John, and a relative of our Lord; for his mother Salome was cousin-german to the Virgin Mary.
The Christian understanding of covenant community is rooted not in the Abrahamic covenant marked by circumcision nor even in eucharistic fellowship—rather, it is found in Baptism. To issue the invitation Christ issued is to welcome the outcast and marginal into God’s covenant community through Baptism.